yag: Community and Architecturehttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/atom.aspxTelligent Community 5.6.583.19431 (Build: 5.6.583.19431)2007-03-30T10:04:00ZMoving on...http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2011/11/16/moving-on.aspx2011-11-16T20:33:49Z2011-11-16T20:33:49Z<p>It's been a while since I've posted on the blog - as I moved to more internal teams, I haven't had as much to talk about. That's all about to change. Below is an email I just sent out. You can find my new blog (actually, my old personal one)&nbsp;at <a href="http://yalangriver.wordpress.com/">http://yalangriver.wordpress.com/.</a> Hope to see y'all there!</p>
<p>---------------</p>
<p>In keeping with Microsoft tradition, I&rsquo;m writing to all of you to let you know that December 2<sup>nd</sup> is my last day at the company.</p>
<p>I&rsquo;m going to be taking a <a href="http://www.ecwise.com/executive-team.aspx">COO</a>&nbsp;position at <a href="http://www.ecwise.com/">EC:Wise</a>, a 100+ person consulting company that specializes in business intelligence, &nbsp;analysis and data services as well as a position in an associated startup that is providing automation, <a href="http://www.ecwise.com/business_process_orchestration_case.aspx">analytics</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.ecwise.com/lead_analytics_case.aspx">social networking</a>&nbsp;for the casino industry. As most of you know, I&rsquo;ve always been interested in helping companies attain their goals and enable better focus on their customers &ndash; whether thru transactional systems, data analysis or social networking. This allows me to hit many of these things at once. Additionally, it has the added bonus of working with some people that I&rsquo;ve known for over 20 years, including<br />someone that I used to work with in my own company back in my New Jersey days. Finally, I get to spend some time working not only in the .NET world, but the open source world as well.</p>
<p>My nearly 10 years at Microsoft have been an incredible learning experience &ndash; you&rsquo;ve all been part of that. I&rsquo;ve been involved in the creation of some amazing software, some incredible teams, and I respect the<br />fact that this has been one of the few large companies that encourages you to speak your mind. If I can leave anything with y&rsquo;all it&rsquo;s to keep fighting to do the right thing by customers &ndash; both internal and external &ndash; even if you have to be creative to get there.</p>
<p>I&rsquo;ll be staying in the Seattle area &ndash; and can be reached via my personal email at <a href="mailto:yalangriver@hotmail.com">yalangriver@hotmail.com</a>, and of course on Facebook at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/yalangriver">www.facebook.com/yalangriver</a>.</p>
<p>Please keep in touch.</p>
<p>yag</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=10237855" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxWatch Channel9 Videos on your TVhttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2009/05/16/watch-channel9-videos-on-your-tv.aspx2009-05-17T01:42:46Z2009-05-17T01:42:46Z<p align="left"><font size="3">Pretty cool. I have my XBOX 360 playing Hulu, YouTube and other videos via </font><a href="http://www.themediamall.com/playon" target="_blank"><font size="3">MediaMall's PlayOn</font></a><font size="3"> software. Channel9 posted the source code to a </font><a href="http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Channel9PlayOn" target="_blank"><font size="3">plugin</font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="3" face="Verdana"> that lets you watch C9 videos, screencasts, etc., via the TV too. The video is pretty clear - I could see the VS code really well.</font> </font></p> <p></p> <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/yag/WindowsLiveWriter/WatchChannel9VideosonyourTV_DCF4/C9%20on%20XBOX_2.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="C9 on XBOX" border="0" alt="C9 on XBOX" src="http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/yag/WindowsLiveWriter/WatchChannel9VideosonyourTV_DCF4/C9%20on%20XBOX_thumb.jpg" width="370" height="491" /></a><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9623691" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxCool! VPC and USBhttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2008/06/19/cool-vpc-and-usb.aspx2008-06-20T04:34:00Z2008-06-20T04:34:00Z<P>Joe Homnick has an <A class="" href="http://joeblog.homnick.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=38" target=_blank mce_href="http://joeblog.homnick.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=38">awesome blog entry</A> on keeping your VPCs on a USB key (your undo drive on your hard disc). He says that he's getting great performance, and it's easy to keep your VPCs with you wherever you go. Great for training classes. </P>
<P>Check it out!</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=8623748" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxTo Linq or Not To Linq, that is the question...http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2008/02/22/to-linq-or-not-to-linq-that-is-the-question.aspx2008-02-23T03:20:00Z2008-02-23T03:20:00Z<P>Jim Wooley just posted a <A class="" href="http://www.thinqlinq.com/Default/Querying_the_complete_plays_of_Shakespeare_using_LINQ_to_XML.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://www.thinqlinq.com/Default/Querying_the_complete_plays_of_Shakespeare_using_LINQ_to_XML.aspx">great entry</A> on his ThinqLinq site. It involves using Linq to XML and VB9's XML Literals to query Shakespeare's plays. He first joins all the plays on his drive together into one big XML file and then gets the top 50 characters by the number of lines they speak. Head over there to see the code. Very clean, IMO.</P>
<P>&nbsp;Those of you who know me know that I'm a Shakespeare fanatic and a pretty big fan of Linq also &lt;g&gt; - this post just made my day. Great way to (almost) start the weekend. Thanks, Jim!</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=7852254" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxCommunity-based music producinghttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2008/01/21/community-based-music-producing.aspx2008-01-21T20:47:00Z2008-01-21T20:47:00Z<P>Many years ago I saw Jill Sobule do a show - and I enjoyed her sense of humor and stage presence. Bought <A class="" href="http://www.amazon.com/Jill-Sobule/dp/B000005J7Z/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1200938007&amp;sr=8-1" target=_blank mce_href="http://www.amazon.com/Jill-Sobule/dp/B000005J7Z/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1200938007&amp;sr=8-1">a few</A> of <A class="" href="http://www.amazon.com/Pink-Pearl-Jill-Sobule/dp/B0001N6M80/ref=pd_bbs_9?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1200938007&amp;sr=8-9" target=_blank mce_href="http://www.amazon.com/Pink-Pearl-Jill-Sobule/dp/B0001N6M80/ref=pd_bbs_9?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1200938007&amp;sr=8-9">her CDs</A> to check them out. Anyway, was looking around today and found <A class="" href="http://jillsnextrecord.com/home.asp" target=_blank mce_href="http://jillsnextrecord.com/home.asp">this site</A>. It's called Jill's Next Record! and asks the community at large to help her produce her CD. She offers various things for different levels of support - and keeps a tally on the site (currently at around $26,000). Some of my favorites:</P>
<LI><STRONG>$25 - Polished Rock Level:</STRONG> An advance copy of the CD. Weeks before the masses.
<LI><STRONG>$50 - Pewter Level:</STRONG> An advance copy and a "Thank You" on the CD. </LI>
<LI><STRONG>$500 - Gold Level:</STRONG> This is where it gets good! At the end of my CD, I'll do a fun instrumental track where I'll mention your name and maybe rhyme with it. And if you don't want your name used, you can give me a loved one's instead. What a great gift!
<LI><STRONG>$750 - Gold Doubloons Level:</STRONG> Exactly like the gold level, but you give me more money. </LI>
<LI><STRONG>$5,000 — Diamond Level:</STRONG> I will come and do a house concert for you. Invite your friends, serve some drinks, bring me out and I sing. Actually, this level is a smart choice economically. I've played many house concerts where the host has charged his guests and made his money back. I'd go for this if I were you. </LI>
<P>Heck, for $10,000 you can sing on the CD or play cowbell - your choice. &lt;g&gt; Never too much cowbell...</P>
<P>&nbsp;Anyway, just a data point for how things are changing in this more connected society.</P>
<P mce_keep="true">&nbsp;</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=7186325" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxFor your weekend programming theory watching pleasure...http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2008/01/18/for-your-weekend-programming-theory-watching-pleasure.aspx2008-01-19T02:14:00Z2008-01-19T02:14:00ZThere's a <A class="" href="http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=374141" target=_blank mce_href="http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=374141">new video</A> on Channel 9 about functional programming. Erik spends most of it on his whiteboard. Make sure you're in a quiet room for an hour. &lt;g&gt;<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=7154092" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxVolta preview is releasedhttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/12/05/volta-preview-is-released.aspx2007-12-06T03:25:00Z2007-12-06T03:25:00Z<P>Erik Meijer and I have discussed Volta a number of times - very exciting to see it <A class="" href="http://labs.live.com/volta/" target=_blank mce_href="http://labs.live.com/volta/">released on Live Labs</A>.</P>
<P>A few links that should be interesting:</P>
<UL>
<LI><A class="" href="http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/2563" target=_blank mce_href="http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/2563">Erik's announcement post</A> on LTU.</LI>
<LI>The Volta <A class="" href="http://labs.live.com/volta/blog/" target=_blank mce_href="http://labs.live.com/volta/blog/">team blog</A></LI>
<LI><A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/wesdyer" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/wesdyer">Wes' blog</A> - with a "Hello, World" <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/wesdyer/archive/2007/12/05/volta-redefining-web-development.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/wesdyer/archive/2007/12/05/volta-redefining-web-development.aspx">walkthrough</A></LI>
<LI><A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/harishk/" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/harishk/">HarishK's blog</A></LI>
<LI>The <A class="" href="http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7772571" target=_blank mce_href="http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7772571">Volta forum</A></LI></UL>
<P mce_keep="true">&nbsp;</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=6672559" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxWindows Vista border issue and SP2http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/10/31/windows-vista-border-issue-and-sp2.aspx2007-10-31T21:15:00Z2007-10-31T21:15:00Z<P mce_keep="true">We've figured out the Vista border issue (we think). We couldn't reproduce it here, but Jim Slater noted that it happens for him when he changes the bordertype in the init. As Calvin mentioned in these blog entries:</P>
<P mce_keep="true"><A href="http://blogs.msdn.com/calvin_hsia/archive/2007/05/01/windows-vista-aero-borderstyle-paint-problem-as-non-administrator.aspx">Windows Vista Aero BorderStyle Paint problem as non Administrator</A></P>
<P><A href="http://blogs.msdn.com/calvin_hsia/archive/2007/04/27/fix-your-forms-to-paint-borders-correctly-under-vista-aero.aspx">Fix your forms to paint borders correctly under Vista Aero</A></P>
<P mce_keep="true">Vista doesn't allow you to change the border type after the window is created unless you are running as administrator (in fact, he duplicates this in C++). He discusses ways around this - but this is not an SP2 issue - there's nothing we can do about this in our SP.</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=5802177" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxSP2 commentshttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/10/23/sp2-comments.aspx2007-10-23T11:10:00Z2007-10-23T11:10:00Z<P mce_keep="true">I've been reading the comments here and on some sites about SP2. I wanted to give my point of view about it and ask for a few things from the community.</P>
<P mce_keep="true">Milind, Calvin, Aiwen and I have been going thru the reports and trying to reproduce them here on multiple OS' and on SP1 and SP2. We haven't been able to succeed. Tonight I <A class="" href="http://gonzmax.blogspot.com/2007/10/vfp9-sp2.html" target=_blank mce_href="http://gonzmax.blogspot.com/2007/10/vfp9-sp2.html">heard from John Koziol</A> that he and some former VFP testers were testing SP2 (on XP) as well and they came to the conclusion that it is stable as well.</P>
<P mce_keep="true">So, that leaves us in a bit of a bind. One thing that occurred to me over the weekend is that some folks that are seeing problems may have installed SP2 over the beta - which is not supported and may have left files in a strange state. </P>
<P mce_keep="true">So, if you are having issues (let's start with the Vista ones), can you please be sure you installed SP2 over a plain vanilla VFP9?</P>
<P mce_keep="true">For instance, on VFP9 SP2 fixed the following bugs reported here on my blog:</P>
<OL>
<LI>
<DIV mce_keep="true">The intellisense bug: try to use arrow up/down to select the items show from intellisense got multi-selection</DIV></LI>
<LI>
<DIV mce_keep="true">Windows Vista Aero BorderStyle paint bug as <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/calvin_hsia/archive/2007/05/01/windows-vista-aero-borderstyle-paint-problem-as-non-administrator.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/calvin_hsia/archive/2007/05/01/windows-vista-aero-borderstyle-paint-problem-as-non-administrator.aspx">Calvin talked in his blog</A>.</DIV></LI></OL>
<P mce_keep="true">We tested both of these in multiple combinations and kept getting correct results.</P>
<P mce_keep="true">Oh, and for Bernard Bout's DateTime bug - we think that happened due to another fix for DateTime (kinda like what happened when we fixed the GROUP BY in an earlier version of VFP), but we need more info to repro it. One workaround to please try is to use methods (rather than properties) that return DateTimes. </P>
<P mce_keep="true">Feel free to leave comments here if you've reported something, or even better, via <A href="https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/Search.aspx">Connect</A>. </P>
<P mce_keep="true">Thanks!</P>
<P mce_keep="true">&nbsp;</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=5620370" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxUpdated SP2 now onlinehttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/10/16/updated-sp2-now-online.aspx2007-10-16T20:53:00Z2007-10-16T20:53:00ZIt may take around a 1/2 hour to propogate to all the servers, but it's now online.<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=5473487" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxWhoops!http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/10/14/whoops.aspx2007-10-15T05:02:00Z2007-10-15T05:02:00Z<P>As some of you have noticed, we had a bug in our SP2 release. We forgot to update the file with the splash screen in it. Nice getting back online to messages about it. My thanks to those of you who mentioned it nicely. &lt;g&gt;</P>
<P>Anyway, Milind and I have already started putting together the files and process needed to get a new version out there. Hopefully it will be out tomorrow. Sorry to everyone about the restart...</P>
<P mce_keep="true">&nbsp;</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=5456349" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxFree DBI Controls with VFP9 SP2http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/10/13/free-dbi-controls-with-vfp9-sp2.aspx2007-10-14T02:12:00Z2007-10-14T02:12:00Z<P>Now that SP2 is out, you can go ahead and download the <A class="" href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/Special_Offers_SednaComponents.asp" target=_blank mce_href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/Special_Offers_SednaComponents.asp">free ActiveX controls</A> being made available by our friends at DBI. The controls include the following:</P>
<P>
<TABLE class="" id=table20 height=200 width=500 border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD class="" width=14 height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=84 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><U><SPAN style="COLOR: blue"><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctTray.asp">ctTray</A></SPAN></U><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctTray.asp"><SPAN style="COLOR: blue"> </SPAN></A></SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=351 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Offers </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">developers direct access to the standard Windows System tray for presentation of application icons for example</SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" width=20 height=25>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class="" width=14 height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=84 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><U><SPAN style="COLOR: blue"><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctDEdit.asp">ctDEdit</A></SPAN></U><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctDEdit.asp"><FONT color=#0000ff>&nbsp;</FONT></A></SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=351 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">T</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">he perfect masked edit control for date and time entry</SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" width=20 height=25>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class="" width=14 height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=84 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><U><SPAN style="COLOR: blue"><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctContact.asp">ctContact</A></SPAN></U>&nbsp;</SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=351 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Outlook-style contact list with find and in-line item editing</SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" width=20 height=25>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class="" width=14 height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=84 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><U><SPAN style="COLOR: blue"><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctToolBar.asp">ctToolBar</A></SPAN></U></SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=351 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">F</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">ull Windows XP styling of the ToolBar and ToolBar menus</SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" width=20 height=25>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class="" width=14 height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=84 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><U><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctListBar.asp">ctListBar</A></U>&nbsp;</SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=351 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">T</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">he only multi-column ListBar control outside of Visio</SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" width=20 height=25>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class="" width=14 height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=84 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><U><SPAN style="COLOR: blue"><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctDays.asp">ctDays</A></SPAN></U></SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=351 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">A</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> fully modifiable Outlook-style single column DayView control</SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" width=20 height=25>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class="" width=14 height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=84 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><U><SPAN style="COLOR: blue"><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctDropMenu.asp">ctDropMenu</A></SPAN></U></SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=351 height=25><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">A drop-down, pop-up menu control with individual item image and text/sub-text features.</SPAN></TD>
<TD class="" width=20 height=25>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class="" width=14 height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=84 height=25><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=2><A href="http://www.dbi-tech.com/ctFrame.asp" target=_blank>ctFrame</A></FONT></TD>
<TD class="" height=25>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD class="" width=351 height=25><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt" face=Arial>Manage an array of components within a single component. ctFrame makes it easy to create boxes, title bars, and container objects with a variety of border effects.</FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=5430902" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxDevteach in Vancouver and Party with Palermohttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/10/12/devteach-in-vancouver-and-party-with-palermo.aspx2007-10-13T01:41:00Z2007-10-13T01:41:00Z<P>I'll be speaking on Silverlight at <A class="" href="http://www.devteach.com/" target=_blank mce_href="http://www.devteach.com">Devteach in Vancouver</A> the week of November 26th. Devteach is an awesome conference - and this year has a full track on XNA - which should be interesting. And improving on things this year, Jeff Palermo is throwing one of his "Party with Palermo" free parties at the conference! The one he put together here in Seattle at the MVP Summit last year was a ton of fun. Hope you can make it</P>
<P><A href="http://www.partywithpalermo.com/" mce_href="http://www.partywithpalermo.com"><IMG style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" alt="Party with Palermo" src="http://www.partywithpalermo.com/images/pwpbadge.jpg" mce_src="http://www.partywithpalermo.com/images/pwpbadge.jpg"> </A></P>
<P>Almost forgot - some dude named <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/klevy" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/klevy">Ken Levy</A> is doing the <A class="" href="http://www.devteach.com/Keynote.aspx" mce_href="http://www.devteach.com/Keynote.aspx">keynote</A>. Wonder what that's all about? &lt;gd&amp;r&gt;</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=5430564" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxVFP9 SP2 Ships!http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/10/11/vfp9-sp2-ships.aspx2007-10-12T08:18:00Z2007-10-12T08:18:00Z<P>As stated in the latest <A class="" href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vfoxpro/bb264582.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vfoxpro/bb264582.aspx">monthly letter</A>, we just shipped Service Pack 2 (SP2) for VFP 9! You can <A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=a28ddec6-ba3c-49d0-8176-8c0b3fca06d1&amp;displaylang=en" target=_blank mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=a28ddec6-ba3c-49d0-8176-8c0b3fca06d1&amp;displaylang=en">download it here</A>. We've also made the <A class="" href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/f/f/efff372d-5f27-414c-ae18-177170bf676d/vfp9sp2_bugfixlist.htm" target=_blank mce_href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/f/f/efff372d-5f27-414c-ae18-177170bf676d/vfp9sp2_bugfixlist.htm">bug list available</A>. </P>
<P>The source code to the VFP and VB.NET components will be made available next week.</P>
<P>My thanks to everyone on the team that worked so hard to make this happen.</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=5415031" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxGerman VFP, SQL Server and .NET conference in Octoberhttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/09/08/german-vfp-sql-server-and-net-conference-in-october.aspx2007-09-08T20:51:00Z2007-09-08T20:51:00Z<P>I'll be speaking at a conference in Frankfurt, Germany on November 8-10. I'll be keynoting the VFP conference and doing a session on VB.NET (including things like LINQ, Silverlight and future releases). This is one of my all time favorite conferences - Rainer really focuses on the attendees - great food, lots of chances for 1:1s with the speakers and other attendees, just an overall wonderful time. Click on the pictures to go to the website for the conference.</P>
<P><A class="" href="http://sqlnet.dfpug.de/" target=_blank mce_href="http://sqlnet.dfpug.de/"><IMG src="http://blogs.msdn.com/photos/yag_pics/images/4832076/original.aspx" mce_src="http://blogs.msdn.com/photos/yag_pics/images/4832076/original.aspx"></A></P>
<P><A class="" href="http://devcon.dfpug.de/" target=_blank mce_href="http://devcon.dfpug.de/"><IMG style="WIDTH: 270px; HEIGHT: 48px" height=48 src="http://blogs.msdn.com/photos/yag_pics/images/4832070/original.aspx" width=270 mce_src="http://blogs.msdn.com/photos/yag_pics/images/4832070/original.aspx"></A></P>
<P mce_keep="true">&nbsp;</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=4832225" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxDid Blogs save Microsoft?http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/08/10/did-blogs-save-microsoft.aspx2007-08-11T03:02:00Z2007-08-11T03:02:00Z<P>Here's a <A class="" href="http://dev2dev.bea.com/blog/gkanapathy/archive/2007/08/successful_blog.html" target=_blank mce_href="http://dev2dev.bea.com/blog/gkanapathy/archive/2007/08/successful_blog.html">great post</A> about blogging and its usefulness in corporations. The quote I wanted to point out:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>What did Microsoft do? I don't know if they had it before, but it takes certain organizational cultural values. It's not about process, or rules. In fact, it requires&nbsp;acceptance of uncertainty and ambiguity, tolerance of risk, openness to criticism, and a degree of confidence. These are not things that can be proceduralized, but instead come from how the organization is, uh, organized, and simply the underlying values. </P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>My first month or two at Microsoft I was in&nbsp;a meeting with Steve Ballmer and other VPs. We were talking about blogging, responding&nbsp;on Newsgroups, Forums, etc. The thing I remembered most about the meeting - and what made me so happy to be here was around the discussion of written standards. Steve (and Eric Rudder if I&nbsp;recall correctly) basically ended the conversation with "we hire smart people, let's trust them to be smart about what they do". </P>
<P>Like Gerald says, this comes from the underlying values...&nbsp;</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=4326181" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxSilverlight on MLB.COMhttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/08/06/silverlight-on-mlb-com.aspx2007-08-07T04:45:00Z2007-08-07T04:45:00ZAs most of you know, I'm a baseball fan. <A class="" href="http://www.mlb.com/" mce_href="http://www.mlb.com">MLB.COM</A> just enabled Silverlight in their video pages. The start of great things to come! &lt;g&gt;<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=4269836" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxCool new social Silverlight game: Zero Gravityhttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/06/27/cool-new-social-silverlight-game-zero-gravity.aspx2007-06-28T03:18:21Z2007-06-28T03:18:21Z<p>Tim Heuer <a href="http://timheuer.com/blog/archive/2007/06/26/zerogravity.aspx" target="_blank">has been working with a team</a> on testing out Silverlight. They created a game called <a href="http://www.ltbennett.com/" target="_blank">Zero Gravity</a>. It's unbelievably addictive. The music won't leave my head... &lt;g&gt;</p> <p>Anyway, they've included support for a number of social networking sites - to help get the word out and to use some of the capabilities to improve the game. So you can add the main character (Lt. Bennett) to your Facebook friends, and follow along on his adventures using Twitter, for instance. Pretty cool.</p> <p>Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/addfriend.php?id=628361728">http://www.facebook.com/addfriend.php?id=628361728</a><br>MySpace: <a href="http://www.myspace.com/lieutenantbennett">http://www.myspace.com/lieutenantbennett</a><br>Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/LtBennett">http://twitter.com/LtBennett</a><br>Main Site: <a href="http://zerogravity.terralever.com/">http://zerogravity.terralever.com/</a><br>Digg It: <a href="http://digg.com/playable_web_games/Rich_Silverlight_Game_help_me_find_my_ship">http://digg.com/playable_web_games/Rich_Silverlight_Game_help_me_find_my_ship</a><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=3573048" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxVFP and the VB Interop Toolkithttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/06/20/vfp-and-the-vb-interop-toolkit.aspx2007-06-20T15:42:00Z2007-06-20T15:42:00Z<P>I'm here in <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2007/06/13/off-to-prague.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2007/06/13/off-to-prague.aspx">Prague</A>, have to head back to the conference for the Q&amp;A session, but spent some time reading my RSS Feeds. Bernard Bout has a <A class="" href="http://weblogs.foxite.com/bernardbout/archive/2007/06/20/4126.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://weblogs.foxite.com/bernardbout/archive/2007/06/20/4126.aspx">"How To" article</A> on using the VB Interop Control Toolkit with VFP. I showed this in my keynote here, using a similar example. I also used the kit to create a control that can host WPF in your VFP form. If you want another example, check out <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/bethmassi/archive/2007/06/13/interop-forms-toolkit-your-new-best-friend.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/bethmassi/archive/2007/06/13/interop-forms-toolkit-your-new-best-friend.aspx">Beth's blog entry</A> on the toolkit. </P>
<P mce_keep="true">&nbsp;</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=3424059" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxThis is pretty cool!http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/06/13/this-is-pretty-cool.aspx2007-06-14T01:35:00Z2007-06-14T01:35:00ZHere's a <A class="" href="http://ashishrd.blogspot.com/2007/06/pong-playing-computer-playing-against.html" target=_blank mce_href="http://ashishrd.blogspot.com/2007/06/pong-playing-computer-playing-against.html">blog entry</A> (with video) by someone who hooked up a web cam to have one computer play another in pong - totally thru the camera capture. Really a lot of fun to look at. Nice job, Ashish!<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=3276548" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxOff to Prague!http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/06/13/off-to-prague.aspx2007-06-14T01:31:00Z2007-06-14T01:31:00ZI'll be leaving this week for the annual <A class="" href="http://www.daquas.cz/fox/devcon2005an/" target=_blank mce_href="http://www.daquas.cz/fox/devcon2005an/">VFP Devcon in Prague</A>, Czech Republic. This is the largest VFP conference in the world and I had a great time there last year. Great speakers, great price. <div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=3276514" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxWe have a beta up and availablehttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/04/17/we-have-a-beta-up-and-available.aspx2007-04-18T01:46:00Z2007-04-18T01:46:00Z<P>I <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2007/03/30/showing-what-we-got.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2007/03/30/showing-what-we-got.aspx">wrote a little while ago</A> about what we were trying to accomplish with our efforts. Well, the initial beta is out. This will hopefully give you some insight into what we're working on, and a place for you to give us feedback. The overall information, FAQs, videos,&nbsp;and other good things&nbsp;<A class="" href="http://www.microsoft.com/communities/default.mspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://www.microsoft.com/communities/default.mspx">are here</A>. You can also go directly to the sites:</P>
<UL>
<LI><STRONG><EM>Forums: </EM></STRONG><A href="http://beta.communities.microsoft.com/forums"><FONT color=#006ff7>http://beta.communities.microsoft.com/forums</FONT></A>
<LI><STRONG><EM>Blogs: </EM></STRONG><A href="http://beta.communities.microsoft.com/blogs"><FONT color=#006ff7>http://beta.communities.microsoft.com/blogs</FONT></A>&nbsp;(I will start posting here).
<LI><STRONG><EM>TagSpace: </EM></STRONG><A href="http://beta.communities.microsoft.com/tagspace"><FONT color=#006ff7>http://beta.communities.microsoft.com/tagspace</FONT></A></LI></UL>
<P mce_keep="true">A few points to make. This release focused on basic functionality, you will be seeing more releases coming with additional features, bug fixes etc., coming on a pretty regular basis. Can't wait to hear your feedback!</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2166808" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxWatch the videos directly...http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/04/11/watch-the-videos-directly.aspx2007-04-12T00:37:00Z2007-04-12T00:37:00Z<P>Some folks contacted me and said that they'd prefer to watch the videos <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2007/04/09/some-microsoft-community-videos-up-on-soapbox.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2007/04/09/some-microsoft-community-videos-up-on-soapbox.aspx">I mention below</A> directly. Here they are:</P>
<P mce_keep="true">&nbsp;</P>
<P>Bob's video:</P>
<P><EMBED pluginspage=http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer src=http://images.soapbox.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf width=412 height=362 type=application/x-shockwave-flash mce_src="http://images.soapbox.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf" quality="high" wmode="transparent" flashvars="c=v&amp;v=786c0f4d-6c85-4513-87ed-f6ce67841d2c"></EMBED><BR><A title="It's All About Bringing People Together" href="http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=786c0f4d-6c85-4513-87ed-f6ce67841d2c" target=_new mce_href="http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=786c0f4d-6c85-4513-87ed-f6ce67841d2c">Video: It's All About Bringing People Together</A> </P>
<P>and my video:</P><EMBED pluginspage=http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer src=http://images.soapbox.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf width=412 height=362 type=application/x-shockwave-flash flashvars="c=v&amp;v=187a8409-00cf-4734-85d3-53656e2b5e88" wmode="transparent" quality="high"></EMBED><BR><A title="The Architect's Perspective" href="http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=187a8409-00cf-4734-85d3-53656e2b5e88" target=_new>Video: The Architect's Perspective</A>
<P mce_keep="true">&nbsp;</P>
<P mce_keep="true">&nbsp;</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2091670" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxSome Microsoft.community videos up on Soapboxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/04/09/some-microsoft-community-videos-up-on-soapbox.aspx2007-04-10T03:58:00Z2007-04-10T03:58:00Z<P>Gotta run to a friend's for dinner, but wanted to point out a few videos up on Soapbox. <A class="" href="http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=786c0f4d-6c85-4513-87ed-f6ce67841d2c" target=_blank mce_href="http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=786c0f4d-6c85-4513-87ed-f6ce67841d2c">One video</A> is of <A class="" href="http://processofchange.com/blogs/blog/default.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://processofchange.com/blogs/blog/default.aspx">Bob Rebholz</A> - our Group Product Manager, and one <A class="" href="http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=187a8409-00cf-4734-85d3-53656e2b5e88" target=_blank mce_href="http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=187a8409-00cf-4734-85d3-53656e2b5e88">is of me</A>. Both videos talk about some of what we're working on.</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2066277" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashxShowing what we got...http://blogs.msdn.com/b/yag/archive/2007/03/30/showing-what-we-got.aspx2007-03-30T20:04:00Z2007-03-30T20:04:00Z<P>When I left the developer division a number of months ago, people were curious as to why. I explained that this new gig was one that kept me awake at night thinking of all the cool things we could be doing. I <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2006/05/05/591127.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2006/05/05/591127.aspx">wrote a little about&nbsp;</A>&nbsp;this <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2006/05/04/590528.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2006/05/04/590528.aspx">when I first</A> joined <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2006/05/04/590531.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/yag/archive/2006/05/04/590531.aspx">the team</A>.</P>
<P>Well, now everyone can see an early view of what we've been working on - what we like to call Microsoft.Community. <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/dseven/archive/2007/03/29/codename-athens-rc-almost-baked.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/dseven/archive/2007/03/29/codename-athens-rc-almost-baked.aspx">Doug has a great post</A> on what it looks like and its manifestation. I want to talk about how we got there, the thought process behind it. </P>
<P>&nbsp;To give a quick overview, Microsoft.Community is made up of three pillars, Community Discovery Services, Community Membership Services, and Community Discussion Services. Community Discovery Services enables social bookmarking and tagging, Community Membership Services provides membership and reputation services. Finally Community Discussion Services provides threaded discussion services. </P>
<P>On top of these, we have a number of sites. TagSpace is the codename for our social networking and tagging collection site. ClaimSpace is the codename for our explicit reputation management site. Finally, our blog and forum sites will eventually move over to new versions built on the Community Discussion Services.</P>
<P>That's a really quick overview. Before reading on, I highly recommend that you <A class="" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/dseven/archive/2007/03/29/codename-athens-rc-almost-baked.aspx" target=_blank mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/dseven/archive/2007/03/29/codename-athens-rc-almost-baked.aspx">read Doug's post</A> for more details. I'll wait &lt;g&gt;.</P>
<P>Welcome back! As I said before, I want to talk about how we got to this group of services and sites. To do this, I want to give you insight into our discussions.</P>
<P>The underlying question in all this is how do we connect people? How do we connect people to resources across the web, to communities, to other people with similar interests? I've been a big community member and booster for over 20 years - on Compuserve, offering space for local user groups when I had my own company, offering speakers to local groups whenever needed, etc,&nbsp;Most of my best friends have come from the communities that I participated in. People from the community have stayed with me for weeks when they've needed a place, I've never been alone in a new city when going there for work because somehow, there was always someone I knew around - even if we'd never met in person. So, to me, community is an inherent goodness.</P>
<P>But even if it isn't inherently good, community is also useful from a learning perspective. If you find a great KB article that answers your question, you are happy. If you belong to a user group and point it out to someone else, more people are happy. If you blog about it, and those who read your blog or do a search find it, they are happy. The interesting thing is that a social, trusted network is a great way of spreading information. But how do you build that social, trusted network? How do you find the right community or people? How do you enable those communities to form at will? That's what we were asking.</P>
<P>Any community needs certain things in order to exist. You have to <STRONG>identify</STRONG> people who may want to be part of your community, <STRONG>connect</STRONG> them together in a <STRONG>venue</STRONG> and <STRONG>reward</STRONG> them for taking part in the community. </P>
<P>If you look at a user group, it meets these criteria. You typically name the user group thru its identification (The Bay Area Database Developers Association, for instance). You meet monthly in a certain location, with people getting to know each other during breaks or before or after the session. You also reward people through the natural activities - you get information, get to learn to speak better, possibly find a job (most user groups start with the question - is anyone looking for or does anyone have a job?).</P>
<P>Codeplex, does much of the same, but in an online, disconnected mode. It's made up of lots of communities that self-form around a project in which they have interest. It has tools (source control, tags, wikis, forums, work items) that are geared around what is needed for those types of communities. By <STRONG>participating</STRONG> in the community thru its own Codeplex project, the Codeplex team hears from folks about what else is needed and thru agile delivery, provides it quickly enough to keep the underlying strata firm and useful enough to let the communities continue to grow.</P>
<P>If we draw these four requirements, we can see how the services and sites provide what is needed to match these requirements.</P>
<P><A href="http://blogs.msdn.com/photos/yag_pics/images/1994758/original.aspx" target=_blank><IMG style="WIDTH: 474px; HEIGHT: 277px" height=329 src="http://blogs.msdn.com/photos/yag_pics/images/1994758/640x340.aspx" width=461 border=0></A></P>
<P>OK. So now we have the basic outline of what we want to create. Let's look at a more architectural view&nbsp;for these same things. We have the services laid out horizontally and can use any combination of these for sites. With the great work of our Product Managers we coalesced on a few core sites to start. These are listed vertically, with their lower range showing which services they consume. We began, of course, with our existing sites - forums and blogs. They make use of all the services (Doug discussed one of my favorite scenarios - building your own forum based on tags). The two new sites, codenamed TagSpace and ClaimSpace make use of the two top services. </P>
<P><A href="http://blogs.msdn.com/photos/yag_pics/images/1994756/original.aspx" target=_blank><IMG style="WIDTH: 504px; HEIGHT: 341px" height=280 src="http://blogs.msdn.com/photos/yag_pics/images/1994756/640x331.aspx" width=516 border=0></A></P>
<P>Wanting to open this up over time (using this on sites of our scale means that we have to slowly grow and be sure that&nbsp;we can handle this), we opted to provide a RESTful interface to all our services and we plan to embrace some of the emerging standards you see with Web 2.0 sites. &nbsp;</P>
<P>Wow! This has taken a while. In future entries, I plan to drill down into some of these services, and as we work further on cacheing and scaling techniques, talk about some of what we learn.</P>
<P>In any case - it's really exciting to have this stuff ready to ship. We want to get your feedback (look here for a post when it's live) and hope to release updates pretty regularly as we move forward.</P><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1994998" width="1" height="1">YAGhttp://blogs.msdn.com/YAG/ProfileUrlRedirect.ashx